Rather than storing data permanently like in large capacity hard drives, RAM provides a temporary cache that your system uses to store the data that you are currently using. This makes accessing the most relevant data much faster, because accessing RAM requires much less time than your hard drive. In fact, most systems are configured to use the hard drive as a substitute for RAM when the RAM is being overloaded with data. This can bring your PC to a crawl, however, and is why having enough RAM is crucial.

DDR3 RAM has been the predominant RAM technology for a good few years now, and its cheapness and high performance are the reason. However, with DDR4 nearly here, and well set to become the motherboard standard, the remaining lifespan of DDR3 RAM is ever shortening.

With a total memory of 4GB, the Corsair XMS3 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3 1333 MHz (PC3 10666) Desktop Arbeitsspeicher (CMX4GX3M1A1333C9) has the capacity to help run multiple general applications simultaneously. It should be just enough for gaming and general PC usage requirements, but considering how cheap RAM is, an upgrade may be a safer long-term option that will provide performance benefits in almost all areas of general PC use. RAM upgrades have, after all, been traditionally recommended as one of the cheapest, quickest, and easiest ways to improve the performance of a sluggish system. This Corsair DDR3 RAM has a speed of 1333MHz. RAM speed is not a crucial feature, but it does contribute significantly to PC games and certain applications like video-editing software. 1333MHz is an average speed, so should not contribute negatively or positively to either of these to any noticeable extent.

The RAM timings reflect different performance benchmarks. The first number, the CL, or CAS (Column Address Strobe) latency, is the time it takes to send a column address and get a response. This Corsair DDR3 RAM has a CL of CL9 (9. Generally speaking, the lower the latency the better, but there are other contributing factors such as clock speed.

The second number, the tRCD, or Row Address to Column Address Delay, is the required clock cycles necessary after a row of memory is opened before columns within it can be accessed. The tRCD of this Corsair DDR3 RAM is 9.

The third number, the tRP, or Row Precharge Time, is the clock cycles necessary after the precharge command is executed before the next row can be opened. The tRP of this RAM is 9.

The last number, the tRAS, or Row Active Time, is the clock cycles necessary after a bank active command before the ensuing precharge command is executed. The tRAS of this RAM is 24).